Planet X RT 57

richard36

I'm thinking of getting a Ribble bike and I'm also looking at the RT 57 as it's meant to be a similar type of bike to the Ribble New Sportive.

I know the RT 57 is a 'new' bike but I was wondering whether anyone on here has bought one yet and if so what their thoughts are about the bike.

Cheers

Monty Dog

Depends on what geometry suits you best - the Sportive has a longer headtube for a less stretched-out position. FWIW a lot of P-X and Ribble frames come from the same Chinese factory: XPace Industrial

bus_ter

I'm very interested in this new frame. I found this thread while trying to research it online.

My body proportions are such that I have long legs compared to my short torso. This necessitates a short Top Tube relative to the Seat Tube. This is so I'm not overly stretched out reacing the bars (and using a short stem to get the reach right is a compromise I don't want to make). Sportives normally have this geometry making them better suited for this type of body shape.

The RT-57 has indeed a very short Top Tube, however the rest of the geometry doesn't make sense as a sportive bike. For example the Head Tube is quite short (sportives are usually tall for a more upright sitting position). Also the reach is not particularly short, and what's more the reach doesn't seem to vary much between frame sizes, i.e sizes S(52cm)/M(54cm)/L(56cm) have corresponding reaches of 38.8/38.8/38.9cm. Which is plain weird that they don't increase with the frame sizes.

In regard to the post above, this is a very different geometry to the Ribble New Sportive. The latter has a particularly tall Head Tube and average Top Tube lengths. The benefit of this design (in regards to my body type) is that you can go a size down on the frame to get a short Top Tube, and then put the seat extra high and not worry about a large drop to the handlebars because of the tall Head Tube. (Well that's the theory).

Anyway I'm trying to find out more information about the RT-57, as potentially it could be the perfect frame for me. It will most likely be sold by other manufacturers under different names, however I don't know what these are. (It's geometry doesn't match up to any Ribble frames).

If anyone has any further info please post here. Hopefully one of the magazines will review a Planet-X bike with it soon..

Currently Planet-X only sell it with an 'SRAM Red' kit a the moment. Persumably they have lots of SRAM Red bits to get rid of. A word of warning here, it's not quite the amazing bargain it first seems. Planet-X don't spec the whole groupset as 'Red'. A quick look at the specs shows the cassette/chain/gears are lower end SRAM. All the brakes are own brand Planet-X too. So basically you get a mix and match with some Red parts (namely the higher visibility parts like the rear derailleur etc). Worth being aware of.

dru

bus_ter wrote:

Currently Planet-X only sell it with an 'SRAM Red' kit a the moment. Persumably they have lots of SRAM Red bits to get rid of. A word of warning here, it's not quite the amazing bargain it first seems. Planet-X don't spec the whole groupset as 'Red'. A quick look at the specs shows the cassette/chain/gears are lower end SRAM. All the brakes are own brand Planet-X too. So basically you get a mix and match with some Red parts (namely the higher visibility parts like the rear derailleur etc). Worth being aware of.

For what its worth this is nothing new and Planet X has been doing this sort of thing very sucessfully for years.

When the Nanolight came out last year and the new carbon pro sl with new graphics all of the first bikes were kitted with SRAM Red, but not all parts where Red.

It's clearly listed what is or isn't Sram Red.

I did the same with a SRAM Red PRo SL and got it for a steal, I then upgraded the standard FSA crankset and brakes to top of the range ones as my budget allowed.

richard36

Just 'bumping' this thread (if that's allowed) as I would have thought there would be someone in the Bike Radar community who has bought this bike and is able to give an opinion about it.

Cheers

brimmers

I was at Planet X at Rotherham lastthe weekend before last and this new bike looks awesome in the flesh, far better than in the pictures. At £1500 some pounds with mostly red it is good value. The guys there are really helpful and will swop out or spec the bike to your wishes.

ddraver

I did nt think the PX bike was a sportive bike..?